Saturday, March 02, 2013

This is Vital Signs' Guest Editorial piece chosen by the publisher for their March 15, 2013 Issue. Visit http://vitalsigns.ph/.

I was out of Manila when I received messages from Filipino nurses about the remarks made recently by senatorial candidate and former Las Pinas City Representative Cynthia Villar.

It was during one of the episodes of "Pagsubok ng mga Kandidato" aired by GMA News TV last February 23, 2013 when Cynthia Villar was asked by Winnie Monsod regarding the issue of the CHED & the Technical Committee on Nursing Education's (TCNE) attempt to close down low performing nursing schools during her term as the chair of the House Committee on Higher & Technical Education.

She tries to defend herself and disconnects from the allegation that she was also one of the reasons why CHED Chairperson and the rest of the members of the TCNE resigned during her term. And then when she responded to the question, she just blew it.

See the video:

I watched the video attentively and was so amused with how she responded - this lady does not know what she is talking about!

In an attempt to redeem herself and to distance herself from the issue - she made remarks derogatory to hundreds of thousands of Filipino nurses - all of whom are potential voters.

She is speaking as a businesswoman, not as a people's representative. CHED would of course give and approve a school's permit to operate a nursing course should they pass all requirements due them. Operating a school and a college of nursing need investment - as any other business do - and that part of that is what you call maintaining certain level of standards. Similarly, any business would need to maintain the quality of their work so the consumers' interests are maintained and they patronize it.

CHED is not just a permit-giving institution, it is also an agency of the government that checks and regulates Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and have the capacity to revoke licences to operate any curriculum offered that is not achieving the standards. I believe that the lack of affiliations to tertiary hospitals is one of the reasons, but performance in the Nursing Licensure Examinations (NLE) is another reason.

I was told that when shutting a nursing school or college, CHED would "taper" and would not immediately close as many would perceive. This would mean closing a college of nursing would take sometime, closing the admission of students annually until all students who are left would have graduated.And she proceeded humiliating herself by saying:

As much as I tried to analyze her response, I still think it was reckless and derogatory to the country's largest number of health professionals. Mrs. Villar, this is a shame.

In her statement Mrs. Villar claimed that "many" nursing students in fact did not want to complete the entire nursing course. According to her "They requested that maybe they can be given certificates when they complete two years of studies. Those who want to and can afford to transfer to other schools, with tertiary hospitals, can do so. And those who cannot and want to work as caregivers would be allowed to do so also. Many students clamored for such an option…they wanted to have a certificate to be qualified as a caregiver."(Read her full statement here).

I really do not understand the connection between the closure of the low performing schools to that one factor of having an affiliation with tertiary hospitals. This would also be a clarification with CHED, why allow schools to operate if they have not completed all the basic requirements needed for the operation of a nursing school or college, such as having an affiliation with a tertiary hospital? I am not sure if the clamor of these "many" nursing students actually resulted to the creation of the Associate of Health Science Education (AHSE) in the nursing curriculum.

The most disturbing part of her response was when she said that students do not need to finish their Bachelor's Degree, kind of telling the public that you don't need to finish your school if you wish to work overseas.

And what the heck is a "room nurse" Mrs. Villar? This is the first time I encountered that name. As far as I remember, RNs are Registered Nurses, not Room Nurses. We are registered Filipino professionals and we studied almost five years and passed our board examinations to professionally care and manage people's diseases and disorders - we are not room cleaners and assistants.

And please why do you have to use the word "lang" and try to associate with "mag-aalaga"? Mrs. Villar does not know how hard it is to take care of someone. The use of the word "lang" makes every nurse a second-class citizen and health provider. "Lang" degrades the hard work of every professional nurse both in the country and abroad.

"Hindi naman sila kailangan ganoon kagaling" is another statement that went directly out of the mouth without being processed in the brain. Mrs. Villar is saying that nurses or anyone for that matter can be mediocre or substandard because they seek work that is not as glamorous or as "difficult" as what she is aspiring. In any way I tried to turn and look at different angles, there is no way for me to defend this statement - it is clearly said in a bad taste - unpalatable.

I challenge Mrs. Villar to join me and spend a day in a room as a nurse - that is the Operating Room, Delivery Room, ICU or Emergency Room. We would be so glad for you to work with us and show to the people of the Philippines, how a Cynthia Villar works with the people. Now this will be worth the votes.

People like Mrs. Villar still dwell in that stereotypical and derogatory image of a Filipino nurse, undignified assistants of other health providers and foreigners. Having you in the Senate is disturbing for me and poses a threat to many of our ranks and other health professionals in the country.

Forgive me that I have to drop Mrs. Villar from my list even if she belongs to the coalition of my political party. Her demeanor demerits her from our votes - nurses or not. I do not support any mediocre candidate even if they are from our coalition.

No nurse should allow this kind of thinking and impression towards any of our colleagues. Our lives are at stake serving people and caring for them - to the point we even forget to take care of our own. We live for others and take care of them like our own son, daughter, mother, father and relative - and this is what we get in return. Do not allow this, stand and be heard. Tell them we are not second class citizens, tell them that we are the heart of Philippine healthcare and tell them that whatever happens to them - they will fall in our hands and their lives is in ours.

But when you stand dear nurses, stand with courage and perseverance, stand as if no one is to stand for you but yourself. And when you start doing it, people like Mrs. Villar will learn and value life-savers like us.

60 comments:

ung tipong pag naadmit sya under your care.... totoxic-kin ka with her demands and mga requests na hindi mo nmn trabaho. she might have really personally experienced treating a professional as a room nurse. so maybe we cant reall blame here for her statements, it just really reflected what kind of perao she is.

tama lng she responded that way, so we could know how she perceives nurses to be. People who we don't need in our nation.

She should stay and remain a businesswoman,she's not fit to be in politics. I agree,this is just purely business for her. Its clear that she lacks respect,appreciation and recognition for Filipino nurses as well as caregivers here in our country and even abroad. It is very inexcusable for her to say that nurses/caregivers need not be excellent in their field of work,when infact most Filipino nurses are recognized globally for their competence and success. She should know more the capabilties of the Filipinos. We don't need public servants who look down over his people, do we?

2. Businessmen sees the opportunity and puts up "fly-by-night" law schools and lowers the admission requirements to enroll as many and take advantage of the demand, aka, greed.

So, who's to blame? The one who's blinded by ambition without considering one's capability, or the one who is giving you the shot at it AND AT THE SAME time juicing you?

To me, this is what happened with the 2005-06 nursing school boom (or bust?). CHED should have done a preventive approach by NOT permitting the nursing school wannabes to lower their admission requirements instead of allowing them to accept as much enrolees who were not cut to be nurses, and then trying to close the schools in the end (DAMAGE CONTROL).

Helloooo!

As for the "room nurse" comment by this poor lady (bless her heart), I think she was just not getting the appropriate facts from her staff. She should fire them! Filipino nurses here in America are top notch in various specialty fields (ICU, OR, ER, etc.). A friend of mine is even a member of the Nevada Board of Nursing. And,oh yeah, "Room Nurse" title doesn't exist!

The Pilipino Nurse community abroad are screaming UNFAIR! Unfair not to us, but for our parents who worked and sacrificed everything for us, to our profession, to our calling, and to the future nurses who also dare to dream to be like us. If this is the picture of a nurse that Cynthia Villar is trying to paint with our kababayans, who would dare take pride when asked, "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Facebook page and the wall of nurses had exploded with disgust about this.We take great pride on what we do and we excel on it.Pilipino nurses are world class, even President Obama addressed that in his State of the Union Speech. So Cynthia Villar means nothing to us, we already have Pres. Obama validating our worth. We are still voters. Maybe Cynthia Villar would like to know.

I am not a nurse but I am really disappointed to Mrs. Villar statement... not to mention how she care about the universities who according to her spent a lot of money to procure equipments for Nursing Course, she didn't think that she is running as a public servant whose priority must be the citizen of the phils not the businessmen..... well, I am not surprised she is one of them before she enter to politics... I am not the type who comment in every issue I heard but what she says is so despicable to say... no excuses or alibi will clear her since her statement is crystal clear and the core of her belief...

What a load of s!!t.How dare her say derogatory remarks to filipino nurses.she doesn't have a clue about anything and there she is calling us all flipping "room nurse".what a thicky uneducated comment from a politician!i hope next time she will learn to use her pea brain so she could avoid upsetting us filipino nurses.just one of those many pseudo intellectual morons in politics pretending they know everything when they havent got anything between their ears.

Very well said Sir! Sa mga lumabas sa bibig nya during the interview, it seems like wala tayong mapapala sakanya if ever she wins. It also seems that she's more focused on businesses, on MAKING MONEY...

I am a MD in the philippines and please dont tell me that MD means mukhang doktor. My pre med was nursing and went to med school after my BSN/passing the local boards. I practiced medicine for 8 years in the philippines and I have a high regards for RN's. Me and my wife decided to go to the US for my family's future. We were not able to see the bright future as a health care professional in the philippines. Now I am working as a RN-Registered Nurse and not a Room Nurse. Aside from my MD degree,I was able to earn two(2) graduate studies; MAster of Arts in Nursing and MAster of Science in Nursing, Board certified here in the US.

Ms. Villar, I cant stop myself from writing this because we work hard to be a nurse. Yes, indeed you are a threat to the health care professional in the philippines and never ever you'll be in my list. Sayang lang taga las pinas pa man din ako. I am an absentee voter. Shame on you. Foreigners have a high respect for nurses, second only to MD. In the US, RN's are the no.1 most trusted profession and here you are without thinking, saying otherwise. wtf!

I am so sorry for you. You messed with the wrong profession. Consider this as your defeat in phillipine politics.

My name is Chona Fernandez, from Makati and Falls Church, VAThis news really irritates me like hell. I sent my daughter, my 2 nieces to nursing school with my own blood-sweat-tears money/salary ... I didn't beg, borrow, lie nor steal for them to get through their studies. the salary they get is not even a fraction of what I and the rest of the families who sent their children to nursing school has SPENT ... and then you hear this from a so-called congresswoman? who's brain is all about making money ... don't we all deserve better than this woman named Cynthia Villar? There is an old saying in spain ... "no importa como usted viste a un mono, es un mono hasta la muerte. el dinero no muestra." [no matter how you dress a monkey; a monkey is still a monkey until death. the money does not show]. Cynthia Villar has a SHORTY RESPECT for NURSES ... as shorty as she stands.

Well said... I'm a Filipino voter who doesn't vote for stupid candidates & we have lots of them; the topnotcher, being ...CYNTHIA VILLAR. This is the challenge or invitation for voters - to exercise this right of suffrage responsibly - not personalities pls.. but listen to what they're saying like what Villar did. Enough for this kind of politicians.. we need better if not the best. Definitely, NOT Cynthia Villar.

IN RESPONSE TO CYNTHIA VILLAR REGARDING FILIPINO NURSES CONTINUES!!! The doctors hardly see the patient's, they come and write or give us ordrers through telephones,,,we advocate for the patients and their families, either, they are recuperating or they are dying, we carry all procedures by policies and strict standards. Even the simpliest cut or wound if you do dressing change there is a policy to be followed to make sure no one get infected. Even to the last drop of their urine need to be measured and recorded to make sure they don't go on a renal failure! My nurses and all other nurses in this whole universe are the most caring and compassionate people because we sacrifice our own family during the important HOLDAYS of the year to go to work and take care of sick people. Now, BITCH!!! don't tell me we don't need to be educated to be a nurse because even though i have been a nurse for 35 long years!!!!!!!!!! in order to renew my USA California R.N. Lic. #53483 I am mandated by the state by the BOARD OF NURSING to take a 30 hours of continuing education in order to renew it.

It is sad that there are indeed people like you who live in their little bubble and say things without thinking. Politics was never my thing but I am sometimes left bemused and amused on how "some" politicians worm their way out of a situation and use to butter up their "propaganda". But you....you...IM JUST UTTERLY SPEECHLESS. Tactless. In all corners, its plain and obvious HOW YOU LOOK DOWN ON US...NURSES. Ano pa kaya kung simpleng employee or saleslady or the poor soul who has no means to earn money at all??I had lived and worked in England for a long time and not even once did I was looked down upon. Abroad we are not JUST NURSES. Foreigners KNOW HOW TO APPRECIATE OUR HARD WORK. THEY ARE ACTUALLY AMAZED, that we have degrees and that we have a high working ethic towards our profession.Please pray that you wont be my patient. Unfortunately, everybody gets old and sick in their lives. LMAO!!HOnestly, do you think youll get away without passing through our hands?

She doesn't have respect to nurses by saying those words.BSN is a must,I am a registered nurse working in PICU in TN,USA graduated from FEU-nursing.And I can say filipino nurses are very competitive compared to others anywhere in the world.Doctors and other healthcare personnels(i.e. respiratory therapist,physical therapist,dietician,pharmacist,occupational therapist,etc) involved in patient care ask our opinion about the patient.Nurses play a vital role in the patient's recovery.Ma'm Villar you don't know what you're talking about,sucah a great dismay!

I am so proud while reading these posts.. I am a 2010 graduate and I am still here in the Philippines, hearing such statements of Mrs. Villar made me and my boyfriend, my sister and my friends who are also RNs very very angry with her. All of the Nurses i know will never vote for her. I know that one day you will end up with the hands of nurses. Our best revenge is to prove you wrong.

30- second limit is not an excuse, it is a test of your character, your true disrespectful side comes out naturally under extreme pressure, wounded feelings forgives with an honest apology, not with unacceptable,irrelevant excuses.When you get ill, you'll be looked after by a Nurse once you publicly humiliated.Anyway, Mrs Villar, whatever your reasons, the damage has been done, actually, it is useless and complete waste of my time with expressing my sentiment, its seems you are not affected at all, I have a feeling you might be grateful with this issue as it gains your popularity as a candidate......

Don't let your mouth get ahead of your neurons. Anatomically, your brain is over your mouth, physiologically, your brain is responsible for processing everthing, scientifically, your brain processes your idea/opinion before you can say it, so theoritically, you don't have a brain, you just have a big mouth.

Don't let your mouth get ahead of your neurons.Because anatomically, your brain is over your mouth, physiologically your brain processes your idea or opinion before you say it, but in your case, theoritically speaking, you don't have a brain, you just have a big mouth.

Wow... Grabe! Advice lang po Mrs. Villar. Everybody seems galit na po sa inyo! At tama po sila! sobrang nakakasakit po ang tingin nyo sa nurses! At pati kami na hindi mga nurses na-stress sayo! You be very careful with your words ma'm. The campaign is just starting, how will you face the public with your situation now? But at least the whole world has seen what kind of senator you will be, in case you win. Better back-out now ma'm... sayang lang po pagod nyo at pera sa pagkandidato mo. How would you explain to everyone or prove to everyone that the comments of all these "angry people" are all wrong? I think it's good nangyari po ito habang hindi ka pa masyadong napapagod at gumagastos sa kampanya... or else, you will at once fall in the hands of the nurses... pati na yata doctors galit na sayo? Hanep nga!! Maybe God has a better plan for you!

Mrs.Villar , you woke up a "sleeping giant", of all the professions you choose to insult "NURSING"?... , you have disrespected our highly appreciated profession , this will haunt you till you step down...just hope and pray that you will not be stricken by a debilitating disease, because you will need nurses to take care of you , we are the frontline workers in the healthcare system ..."apologize or forever be gone"

I have my Nurse Licensure in the Philippines, KSA, Kuwait and USA. I don't consider myself taga alaga lang. Only nurses have bottomless feet of patience, but i'm out of patience to Mrs villar's words. It doesn't mean that you are rich, you have the priviledge to be healthy the rest of ur life, one day, I might be at ur bedside, but I will still care for you because I have my Nightingales's Pledge.....God bless u, I'm sure the rest in our clan will not vote for u.

OVER 400,000 votes lost and not to mention, friends, relatives and the parents and guardians who sacrificed a lot in order to bring to school there children. so maybe over half a million. or even a million. good luck then madam.

She really doesn't have a single idea what does a nurse do....dont worry when she fall on to the hands on nurses...you know well how to compute her dose of medicine and what to push....let her sleep.....

The real lesson will be learn once she becomes a patient and she will feel humble when a nurse will take good care of her even after her low disregard to our nursing profession...not only knowing but experiencing first hand how a nurse can make a difference not only with her own health..but with her life spent in the hospital..

i'm not a nurse but what cynthia-the-idiot said was totally dumb! she made claims for other people - "gusto lang naman nila maging room nurse" - HUUWHAT? why are you claiming all of this on behalf of all nurses? "di naman talaga nila maging magaling" - what nonsense made you think they don't have to be skilled? she also ask for apology or consideration because the time given is not enough for her to express all the story - for pete sake! you already blown up you shit before the time runs out. total idiot!

maybe she said room nurse because she thinks us as 'katulong or utusan '. taga drain ng ihi, taga linis ng dumi, gwardya at puwedeng ireklamu kapag may nawawalang gamit sa room . . sinisigawan kapag hindi agad agad nakakapunta sa room dahil maraming ginagawa.. but beyond that , did she not know how we even work while the world is peacefully asleep? that we have to leave our loved ones to care for those whom we're not even related? or how we work even holidays we should have had it spending it with our families? seriously ? who do you think can make miracles in the ward? the doctors orders medicine but we nurses are making sure the right shot or the pills should be taken in time .or how we encourage cancer patients to moved on so she could alleviate the pain , but as professionals we don't grave in public . It took a lot of courage , skills and confidence to care for patients . An ordinary servant could not do that. even a child patient could give a sincere thank you .so why don't you?instead of prejudicing us nurses?

she really doesn't know what she's talking about!!! i'm not a nurse but i do respect every profession we have...i think she should put her foot first on the shoe of these nurses who were acclaimed as one of the heroes of our country before she talks non sense ideas.....good point sir alvin!!!

I've been a nurse for 25 years here in America and I never heard such humiliating comments from my patients, and to come from a filipino politician? Shame on her!!!The only person who I can compare her is Sarah Palin.